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Anthoine Hubert
|birthplace = Lyon, France |death date = |placeofdeath = Stavelot, Belgium |nationality = |status = Deceased |firstrace = 2017 Barcelona Race 1 |firstwin = 2018 Paul Ricard Race 1 |lastrace = 2018 Yas Marina Race 2 |lastwin = 2018 Silverstone Race 1 }}Anthoine Hubert (22 September 1996 – 31 August 2019) was a French professional racing driver. He was the 2018 GP3 Series champion. He was also a junior driver for the Renault F1 team. He died, aged 22, following an accident during the 2019 Spa-Francorchamps Formula 2 feature race. This made him the first driver to have raced in GP3 Series to die. He was also the first driver to be killed during a Grand Prix race weekend since Jules Bianchi in 2015, as well as the first driver to be killed in the second tier of FIA formula racing since Marco Campos in 1995 and the first driver killed in FIA Formula Two since Henry Surtees in 2009. Early life He was born in Lyon, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, France, the son of amateur rally driver François Hubert and Nathalie Gabert, and began karting at age 9. Career GP3 Series during the 2018 GP3 Season.]] Hubert, driving for ART Grand Prix, was the 2018 GP3 Series champion and the final champion before the series became FIA Formula 3 from 2019 onwards. He had two race wins during the season; the first came at Paul Ricard after his countryman Dorian Boccolacci was disqualified from victory, and the second came at Silverstone. The title was clinched at Abu Dhabi during race 17 of 18 of the championship. As well as the final GP3 Series Champion, Hubert was the second French driver to win the title, after Esteban Ocon in 2015. At 22 years, 2 months and 2 days old he was the oldest GP3 series champion, beating Valtteri Bottas who was 22 years and 13 days old when he became 2011 GP3 Series champion. As a reward for winning the title, Hubert was signed up to race for BWT Arden for the 2019 FIA Formula 2 Championship. Death Hubert, driving for BWT Arden, died during the 2019 FIA Formula 2 Championship feature race at Spa-Francorchamps on Saturday 31 August 2019 when he crashed at the Raidillon corner before being struck by Juan Manuel Correa of Charouz Racing at over 150 mph, causing his car to split in half. The accident also involved Giuliano Alesi and Marino Sato who were both uninjured. After being transported to the circuit medical center post-crash, Hubert died from his injuries at 18:35 CET, aged 22. Correa suffered broken legs and a minor spinal injury in the crash and is in a stable condition. Due to the seriousness of the crash, the feature race was cancelled and not restarted with no points awarded. After Hubert's death was announced, the sprint race was also cancelled out of respect. It was also announced that BWT Arden would run just the one car of Tatiana Calderon for the next round at Monza out of respect. Tributes After Hubert's death, top racing car drivers like F1 champions Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button as well as ex-F1 presenter Jake Humphrey and Sky F1 commentator David Croft paid tribute to him. During the IndyCar Grand Prix of Portland, held on the same weekend, a moment of silence was held for Hubert. The F1 and F3 races on Sunday also held moments of silence for Hubert. A minute of silence was held for the F3 race, which was won by Marcus Armstrong, with Hubert's mother and brother in attendance holding one of his crash helmets. A minute of silence was held before the F1 race with all the drivers along with Hubert's mother and brother standing in a horseshoe shape around Hubert's crash helmet. All the drivers also wore black armbands for the F1 race and had 'racing for Anthoine' tribute stickers on their race cars, and on the 19th lap of the race a standing ovation was performed by the race fans in memory of Hubert whose race number was 19. 2016 GP3 Series champion Charles Leclerc, the winner of the race, dedicated the victory to Hubert, one of his closest friends and racing colleagues. GP3 Statistical Overview GP3 Record Career Results Category:GP3 champions